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For the Bored Kids in the Back Seat

MobiGo has a full QWERTY keyboard, which is useful for letter recognition games.

Facing a long trip with a van full of kids? VTech‘s MobiGo Touch Learning System can provide miles of play.

It’s the second of three new educational game platforms intended for kids, ages 3 to 8. Unlike its competitors (LeapFrog’s Leapster Explorer and Fisher-Price’s iXL) MobiGo comes with a slide-open touch screen that reveals a rubbery QWERTY keyboard, which is handy for letter recognition games.

The software comes on ROM cartridges that are simple to plug in and play. Each contains six arcade-style games that sugar-coat school-related facts, presented by recognizable hosts like Dora, Shrek or Buzz Lightyear. This “spoonful of sugar helps the facts go down” approach can be dry, but it works. And a child can choose “easy” or “hard” at the start of each game.

For example, in the Toy Story 3 cartridge, a preschool children can move Buzz Lightyear through a maze simply by matching a letter. Older children might be asked to complete a short word of the variety they might very likely see on a spelling test, next fall.

The game packs less of an educational punch than the Leapster Explorer, rarely straying from a drill or multiple-choice format. Also, it can save scores for just one child, compared with Leapster, which can save scores for four. But it is simple to use and hard to put down, two features rarely found in an educational product.

The game takes four AA batteries, and costs $60; cartridges are $20. It’s not compatible with the cartridges from existing VTech products, including the V. Smile.

MobiGo Touch is available at Toys “R” Us now, and nationwide in other stores in August.

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Gadgetwise is a blog about everything related to buying and using tech products. From figuring out which gadget to buy and how to get the best deal on it to configuring it once it’s out of the box, Gadgetwise offers a mix of information, analysis and opinion to help you get the most out of your personal tech.